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Law and the Environment

Our blog provides perspective on developments in environmental law and policy - which developments may matter to you, and how and why they matter. Whether you are a manufacturer or a power plant developer, a renewable energy developer or hoping to be a renewable energy consumer, this blog offers commentary on current issues that are important to your business.

EPA Proposes Safe Drinking Water Act Standards for PFAS: Forever Chemicals Will Lead to Forever Superfund Sites
Blog March 15, 2023
EPA Proposes Safe Drinking Water Act Standards for PFAS: Forever Chemicals Will Lead to Forever Superfund Sites
Yesterday, EPA proposed to regulate certain PFAS under the Safe Drinking Water Act.  EPA proposed Maximum Contaminant Level Goals for PFOA and PFOS of zero.  It proposed Maximum Contaminant Levels for PFOA and PFOS of 4.0 parts per trillion.  EPA also proposed MCLGs and MCLs for PFNA, PFHxS, PFBS, and HFPO-DA (“GenX Chemicals”) based on a novel hazard index approach to these compounds as a group…
Parts Per Trillion, We Hardly Knew Ye; Sell Hello to Parts Per Quadrillion
Blog June 15, 2022
Parts Per Trillion, We Hardly Knew Ye; Sell Hello to Parts Per Quadrillion
Just when we environmental old-timers were just getting used to talk about PFAS concentrations in the low parts per trillion range, EPA has moved us squarely into uncharted territory.  EPA has released new, interim, lifetime drinking water health advisories of 4 parts per quadrillion for PFOA and 20 parts per quadrillion for PFOS.  I'll just note a couple of points:  I think it sort of charming that EPA still states the health advisories in the units of parts per trillion (0.004 ppt for……
The Drumbeat of PFAS Litigation Is Getting Louder
Blog May 25, 2022
The Drumbeat of PFAS Litigation Is Getting Louder
On May 25th, Massachusetts filed suit against a number of companies alleged to have manufactured PFAS and/or aqueous film-forming foam.  Massachusetts joins a number of other states which have already brought similar claims.  Indeed, Massachusetts filed the case in South Carolina, where an existing multi-district litigation concerning PFAS is already in progress. The complaint asserts a number of different claims, including trespass and nuisance…
More Action By EPA on PFAS; The Bad News Keeps Piling Up.
Blog October 28, 2021
More Action By EPA on PFAS; The Bad News Keeps Piling Up.
The news about PFAS keeps piling up, and the trend is pretty clear – none of it is good for manufacturers and significant users.  There were two important items this week. First, EPA published its human health toxicity assessment for “GenX chemicals,” also known as hexafluoropropylene oxide (“HFPO”) dimer acid (and don't forget its ammonium salt!).  EPA has pegged HFPO's toxicity at 7-100 times higher than that of other PFAS compounds for which assessments already exist…
Environmental Nuisance Claims It Helps To Have Experts
Blog July 18, 2013
Environmental Nuisance Claims It Helps To Have Experts
The old warning that past performance is no guarantee of future results apparently applies not only to investments but also to environmental nuisance suits in Tennessee.  In Freeman v. Blue Ridge Paper Products, a class of 300 residents living 26 miles downriver from a paper mill plant had obtained a $2 million jury verdict in state court on the ground that the paper mill had interfered with the use and enjoyment of their property from 1999 to 2005 by putting chemicals into the river that……
Why Trial Courts Are Reluctant To Exclude Scientific Evidence in Toxic Tort Cases
Blog May 21, 2013
Why Trial Courts Are Reluctant To Exclude Scientific Evidence in Toxic Tort Cases
Environmental litigation, particularly toxic tort litigation, inevitably turns on scientific evidence about causation.  Beginning with the Supreme Courts Daubert decision in 1993, trial courts have repeatedly been admonished to take seriously their role as gatekeepers who are required to keep from juries and other fact-finders junk science and other expert evidence that is not sufficiently reliable to be considered. Although no one would disagree that one key responsibility of any judge is……

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ABOUT

In today’s fast changing world, almost all of us get our news – including our news about developments in environmental law and policy – electronically. This blog is not intended to be a substitute for the BNA™, or Greenwire™, or Google™, although we do hope that we will be able on occasion to let you know about issues that haven’t yet come to your attention.

What we really want to accomplish is to be able to provide some perspective on those developments. We’ll try to tell you which developments may matter to you. And why they matter. And how they matter. Whether you are a manufacturer or a power plant developer, whether you are a renewable energy developer or hoping to be a renewable energy consumer, whether you are a municipality or public agency or university, we want to comment on current issues in a way that is useful to you in your business.

Frankly, this blog also provides us with the opportunity to introduce you to Foley Hoag’s Environmental Practice Group. Our practice has been New England’s preeminent environmental practice for the past twenty years. We have the depth and capacity to handle the wide array of environmental issues that can arise in the course of your business. We will work with you to resolve any environmental issues that must be addressed in order for you to achieve your business goals – from permitting new projects to cost-effective cleanup of urban Brownfields properties to implementation of cost-effective due diligence in the support of acquisitions to navigating the emerging world of climate change regulations.

We will also assist you in the defense and prosecution of environmental litigation. As a result of our service to our clients, we have attained a national reputation in environmental matters. Our lawyers have built an impressive record resolving environmental disputes at the negotiating table and in the courtroom, and a number of our cases have produced precedents of national importance.

The scope of this blog will be commensurate with the scope of our practice. We’ll cover climate change, renewable energy, hazardous and solid waste, clean air and water, sustainability and green design. You name it, if it’s got an acronym attached to it, we’ll cover it.

As the headline indicates, we want to inform, update, comment, and discuss. In other words, while we’re going to enjoy posting, we’ll enjoy the blog more – and its usefulness will increase – if we hear from you also. Please comment on the blog entries. Let us know about developments we missed or implications of our discussions that we did not consider.

We look forward to the conversation.

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